


pine, frozen, fleece

by marginaliana



Category: The Grand Tour (TV) RPF
Genre: CHM Advent 2018, M/M, fest fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 09:02:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16910019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marginaliana/pseuds/marginaliana
Summary: James blurts things out and runs away.





	pine, frozen, fleece

**Author's Note:**

> Written for CHM Advent 2018, week one.

**Pine**

"You have a date?" Richard sounded horrified.

"Mmm," James said, taking a sip of his pint. "Friday. His name's Dean, which I grant you is a bit American-sounding. But he seems nice enough."

"But you— Jez— you've always wanted—"

"You thought I would, what, just sit around and pine forever?" It came out sharper than James meant.

"Well, no," Richard said, in a tone that meant yes. "I just thought… you're single… he's single now…"

"He's divorced, not blind," said James. "Probably not even queer." He couldn’t quite make himself let go of that 'probably.' "He'll want a girl with tits, if anyone. Not an old grey spaniel."

Jeremy appeared beside the table as if by magic. "Wait, who are we talking about?"

"Er," said James.

"Need a slash!" Richard announced, slipping eagerly out of the booth. James gave him a look of betrayal, but it made no difference. 

Jeremy slid into Richard's place. "Look, I'm not going to freak out about you wanting some man, if you're worrying about that," he said. It was cheerful, but with an odd undertone. "I just want to know who it is so I can… encourage him not to fuck it up."

**Frozen**

James' brain whirred frantically; his chest was tight and he felt too panicked to say anything at all.

"James?"

He wanted to play it all off as a joke… didn't he? It would be easier. Jeremy may have been all right about James being interested in a man, but that didn't mean he'd be happy to know that the man was him. But James knew he was hesitating too long to make a joke convincing.

"You don't want to know," he managed at last. "Really you don't."

Jeremy looked away, mouth turned down at the corners. "You think I'll ruin it."

"No!" James protested. "No, of course it isn't that. Just, some things are private, that's all."

"Hammond knows," Jeremy said, turning back to fix his gaze on James. "Why does he get to know?"

Those blue-grey eyes made James stupid, always had. "Because it isn't him I want," he blurted. It was a horrible frozen moment before he realized what he'd said. He fumbled himself out of the booth. "I have to go."

Jeremy's face was pale and shocked. "James—" 

"Hammond can pay the tab," James said – as if that were the issue – and then eagerly legged it.

**Fleece**

James drove, panicked, and was mildly surprised to discover himself arriving home without incident. Inside, he went instinctively to the hall cupboard and drew down a ratty fleece blanket. It was almost as old as he was and equally worn, full of stains and snagged threads. As a child he’d wrapped himself in it when he was sick or sulking; his mum called it the ‘misery burrito.’

There wasn’t enough of it for a burrito these days, but it always comforted him and so he pulled it up over his shoulders.

The peace didn’t last – there there was a wild thumping at the door. James startled, then sighed. _Best get it over with._ He nearly took off the blanket, then decided that he didn’t care and kept it around himself like a cape.

“You never let me talk!” Jeremy said, barreling in as soon as the door opened.

Replying was automatic. “I’ve let you rattle on for twenty bloody years!” 

“Not about this!” Jeremy said. “For fuck’s sake, James, you could have at least waited for me to say yes.”

“I— what?”

“You twat,” Jeremy said, and grabbed the edges of the fleece as he leaned in for a kiss.


End file.
